Oren

At the start of the article the Oren talks about how Roger Ebert said that better luck tomorrow was a “film mostly populated by Asian Americans actors that isn’t about Asian Americanness.” I agree and disagree with this statement, because yes the whole plot line could have been a situation that happened to any race of people. But there were areas of the film where Asian identity played a role. For example when they went to the party and got into the fight, and when they were driving and the car next to them was treating them with their guns. Throughout the class this year we have disused how the Asian identity has been constructed I think the movie was a point of deconstruction, the director deconstruction some of the myth of model minority. The movie proved that Asians can also be deviant just like anyone else.

Oren talks about Tak Toyoshima who is a Asian American comic strip writer. Oren says that Toyoshima’s work is a “ bridging text” because he says the majority of the readers are not Asian. While reading the article I thought the comic was bridging because its was not really focused on Asians but there were Asians in the comic strip, sort of like better luck tomorrow. But after looking at the comics that were in the article I don’t know how it was a bridging text. I felt that the comics reinforced cretin stereotypes. The one that I found the most interesting was the one with the white and black guy who get the girl, while SAM only shakes her hand. To me I found this cartoon as a further construction of the Asian identity, even if Toyoshima was being sarcastic.

Better Luck Tomorrow

I found this movie to be very interesting, how Ben went from being someone who was kind of low key, and sort of a loser to being part of what was pretty much a gang. Some other aspects of the film that tied into previous class dissuasions was the whole idea of getting beat with a baseball bat, and I dint make the comparison with Vincent Chin in till Professor Middleton brought it up. I guess I dint see it because it was a Asian beating an other Asian. Another I found interesting was the part when Derek wrote the article about how Ben was the “token Asian” on the basketball team. In the Article he wrote about the only reason that Ben was on the team was because he was Asian. This demonstrated how when you only look at someone only within a racial context it can cover up the person behind the race. This Article was the steeping stone in Derek’s plan to loop Ben into his gang. Derek used Asian identity to convince Ben and his friends to get involved in what looked like mafia activity. I found it weird that when Ben said he was done with the group that Derek said he was done with the group, but it was just a way of getting Ben back into the same activities as he was doing before . It was also interesting at the beginning how Ben said that because he was Asian and that he got good grades that no one would suspect him of bad behaviors. Even when they got into that fight at the party they never got in trouble for it.

Peter Feng

The article discusses a few interesting topics first Hollywood cinema vs. Hong Kong Peter Feng says most Asian American cinema in America has been mostly documentaries but recently the Hollywood style and Hong Kong styles have sort of been combined. Feng mentions Rush Hour to represent how these two film styles symbolically came together. Because in this movie we saw sort of a east meets west with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Feng also mentions how Asian American movies have become more popular especially after 97 with movies such as Sunsets, Yellow, and Strawberry fields.

One part of the article that I found interesting was when Feng says the label “Asian American Cinema” doses not imply that there is such a thing as “Asian American culture,” given the diversity of Asian cultures.” I think that relates to what we were talking about in class all year how you say Asian American but no one really realizes how diverse that term actually is. Feng Also disuses Strawberry fields, in the article I found this discussion particularly interesting. When he says that the film “ takes Asian American history as it pretext, it does not satisfy a liberal perspective of that history that we have all learned from the tragic event s of the past”. I like this because in most movies we see that in the end every thing seems to be worked out and every thing is ok, but in reality people very rarely learn these life lessons and continue there behavior, and I guess this movie was more realistic.

Margaret Cho

One idea that I though about during our discussion in class was the clash between conservative Koreans and homosexuality that was bought up in the Margaret Cho episodes. In California the right for homosexual to marry has been taken away and one of the reasons that it failed was the big turn out of minority voters. And in California there are large amounts of Asian populations and as we learned in class they typically don’t accept homosexuality. So I found this very relevant to what we talked about in class. Also I found it interesting that her show failed, and as I said in class I think her show was before her time and that people back then weren’t interested in her show and weren’t really used to diversity in tv,  I am not saying  that much has changed, but I think that if this show was shown now  it would be far more successful due to the success of people in the show business like George Lopez. It is also very interesting that we see this theme over and over again in the lit we read in class, that is struggle of 2nd generation of Asian America how they really don’t fit into American or Asian culture . we saw this Margaret Cho and how she really wasn’t accepted into the Korean Community.

Native Speaker post 3

One part of the reading that I found particularly interesting was on page 205 when he talking to a doctor and he asks him who his heroes are, besides his father. And he oddly says his imaginary brother. Henry says that he never had a name because he dint know the meaning of Korean names and he dint have an American name because everyone had one. Henry describes why his imaginary brother is hero because it who he wants to be Henry visualizes him and his brother walking “in the schoolyard, stamping the blacktop, announcing our presence with his swagger, his shout. He knew karate, kung fu, tae kwon do, jujitsu. He could beat up the big black kids if he wished, the tough Puerto Rican kids, anyone who called us names or made slanty eyes. The white boys admired him for his athleticism, how far past the fence he could send a kickball. The white girls were especially fond of him. He knew all about science, about model rockery, chemistry sets, baseball cards, about American history. He was the lead in the school play He spoke a singing beautiful English.” He goes on to say his imaginary brother was perfect. I find this little passage very important. Because it finally helped my understanding of Henry. Everything he describes his imaginary brother as, is someone who he wishes he was. Throughout the book, till this point we really don’t understand Henry. But with this passage we realize how much Henrys struggles with his identity, how he’s stuck being an American in a Korean body. We are introduced to this confusion earlier in the book with his job as a spy against his own people as well as with his marriage, because he is first interested in the way she speaks as sort of a way of completing this image of himself.

Through the book we are exposed to Henry and Lelia have a pretty odd relationship, a relationship that you wouldn’t think would work but for some reason they end up together and towards the end of the book I started to realize that these two were oddly enough supposed to be together.

At the end of the book we realize that Henry comes closer to accepting himself for who he really is, rather then trying to live up to the image that he describes when he describes his imaginary brother.

native speaker ….

In the chapters for Wednesday I noticed a lot about Kwang. First thing was that he was very much like Gary Lock the politician mention in Zias book in the fact that he wasn’t respected just because he was a successful Korean but respect because of what he made of himself. On pg 139 says Kwang was “not just a respectable grocer or dry cleaner or doctor, but a larger public figure who was wiling to speak and act outside the sphere of his family. He displayed an ambition I dint recognize, or more, one I hadn’t yet envisioned as something a Korean man would find significant or worthy of energy or devotion He did seem afraid like my mother and father, who were wary of those who would try to shame us or mistreat us.” It seems that through out the chapters that Henry kind of finds Kwang appealing and a lot like himself. I think this is because the two come from similar backgrounds and also because Kwang is a politician he has to hide part of his real self similar to the way Henry has to hide part of his real self when he becomes a spy. Another part of the chapter that I found interesting was the whole idea that only Koreans could spy on Koreans. It is very ironic that Henry wants to drag down a member of his own group. A member that actually has power and influence, a person that could better the life’s of many Koreans. It just seems that Henry really doesn’t understand this idea, and he doesn’t understand the impact of his actions.

Native Speaker

One concept within the reading was the conflict between American culture and Korean culture. Henry’s father says on page 51 “it’s even hard to stay Korean.” When his father first arrived in America, himself and other Koreans set up a Korean system that helped one another out, this system was called a “ggeh” which is a system where Henrys father and his fellow Korean shop owners all paid into a system , and then they divided the money every month to help with their shops. When Henrys father first arrived it seemed that sticking together was very important, and have weekly picnics have been a key to staying together. But the longer they stayed in American and the more money they made the more they turn away from their Korean traditions and adopted the American culture of individualism, and with this they kind of drifted apart from each other socially as well.   Henry said that before his father started having multiple stores he was much happier.          

Second is the way Henry and his father approached their marriages, Henrys and his father both were very uncomfortable with the idea of love. Henrys father when his wife died his father dint really seem very emotional about the situation. It seemed to me like in Korean culture is unacceptable to show emotion. This is shown when Mitt Henrys son is beat up, but then tells his grandfather that he dint cry. Henrys on page 112 says this about the phrase I love you “ I never felt comfortable with the phrase, had a deep trouble with it, all the ways it was said. You could say it in a celebrity sense. For corroboration. In gratitude. To get a point across, to instill guilt in your lover, to defend yourself. You said it after great deliberation, or when you felt reckless. You said it when you meant it and sometimes when you didn’t” .  it’s almost like Henry doesn’t understand love when he says this, it seems like he believes it s more of a manipulation tool then anything else.

Native Speaker

The first few chapters of a native speaker we are introduced to the charters Henry and Lelia, Henry is a corporate spy and Lelia a language teacher. From what I read in the chapters, these two had a very unique relationship.

The first thing about their relationship that I found ironic was what drew Henry to Lelisa was that he was fascinated about the way she spoke. While the first thing Lelia noticed was that he was not a native speaker. Then she started to criticize the way he spoke telling him he thought to much of what he was saying.

In the first chapter there is a list that Lelia made of Henrys flaws. Out of these flaws there were a couple of things dealing with is Korean back ground for example: yellow peril, and she also says poppa’s boy . In the confusion order the father is someone who is very respected, so that’s why I think that one relates back to his Asian rotes. When Henry first kisses her she said that his Asian background doesn’t matter. At first I thought that it could have gradually played a factor in their relationship as time went on. Then I realized it was there from the beginning. When they first meet she make comments on the way he talked, and says only when I look at your face I can tell you’re not a native speaker, and if we talked on the phone I wouldn’t be able to tell your Korean. This shows that race did indeed play a factor from the beginning.

chapters 10 and 11

Chapters 10 and 11
In Chapter 10, again we see the power of organization behind a cause. The Hmong arrived in America as refuges after the Vietnam war.  To tell the truth, I had no idea what Hmong was then  I wikipedia it, they are

“An Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. There, they remain one of the largest sub-groups in the Miao minzu. Beginning in the 18th century, Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration due to political unrest and to find more arable land. As a result, Hmong currently also live in several countries in Southeast Asia, including northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar-Burma.” ( Wikipedia.com)

At the beginning of the chapter we are introduced to a Hmong rapper (Xiong) who took his experience and  used rap as a method to tell his story about his life as a Hmong so he could get a younger crowed to relate to  his painful life story. Also this chapter dealt with the clashing between cultures, American and Hmong. One example that I found interesting was that in Hmong culture in is acceptable for women to marry at 12 or 15 but that tradition goes against the American idea that women should get an education before they get married , and also should be of an “appropriate” age to get hitched.
Then Zia discussed  how a radio station in Minnesota  made a raciest remarks about Hmong culture, that dealt with Hmong women’s rituals after giving birth.  A repeating theme within Zia’s work is the idea that if people come together their voices will be heard much louder. The Hmong people did just that, the Hmong people of Minnesota came together to force a apology out of the radio station.
My favorite part of the reading was when Zia’s father  got a phone call from immigration and naturalization  and they asked you have been here for more then 26 years , why not become a citizen ?  Zia said that her father “ looked at his six American –born Chinese kid seated around the dinner table that night and said to us,  doesn’t  look like were going anywhere- I might as well become a citizen”. (Pg 282) I found this part interesting because it dint seem to mean much to her father to become an American citizen it just seem more like a formality.

presentation

One of the presentation that I found interesting was the Miss Saigon presentation. I dint know too much about the term yellow face, besides what we talked about in class. One of the details in the presentation that was interesting was the video when the guy said that Asian people could play yellow face to. It shows that regardless of who’s playing the role Asian or a white person, the stereotypes for Asians (yellow face) still would exist. I am curious on why the Asian community wasn’t upset more in regards to the plot lines of the play. Also if an Asian did play the role of the “pimp” would the Asian Community still be upset with the director because of the plot line? I also think, like I said in class, that it would be interesting to see what films would be like if directors and produces picked actors for their skill over their race, is this possible, and if so what would movies look like? Would the general population be all right with this ?